Chapter 51

Israel Exhorted

1 “aListen to me, you who bpursue righteousness,

Who seek the Lord:

Look to the crock from which you were hewn

And to the 1quarry from which you were dug.

2 “Look to aAbraham your father

And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;

When he bwas but one I called him,

Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

3 Indeed, athe Lord will comfort Zion;

He will comfort all her bwaste places.

And her cwilderness He will make like dEden,

And her desert like the egarden of the Lord;

fJoy and gladness will be found in her,

Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

4 “aPay attention to Me, O My people,

And give ear to Me, O My 1nation;

For a blaw will go forth from Me,

And I will 2set My cjustice for a dlight of the peoples.

5 “My arighteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,

And My barms will judge the peoples;

The ccoastlands will wait for Me,

And for My darm they will wait expectantly.

6 “aLift up your eyes to the sky,

Then look to the earth beneath;

For the bsky will vanish like smoke,

And the bearth will wear out like a garment

And its inhabitants will die 1in like manner;

But My csalvation will be forever,

And My righteousness will not 2wane.

7 “aListen to Me, you who know righteousness,

A people in whose bheart is My law;

Do not fear the creproach of man,

Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

8 “For the amoth will eat them like a garment,

And the bgrub will eat them like wool.

But My crighteousness will be forever,

And My salvation to all generations.”

9 aAwake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;

Awake as in the bdays of old, the generations of long ago.

cWas it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,

Who pierced the ddragon?

10 Was it not You who adried up the sea,

The waters of the great deep;

Who made the depths of the sea a pathway

For the bredeemed to cross over?

11 So the aransomed of the Lord will return

And come with joyful shouting to Zion,

And beverlasting joy will be on their heads.

They will obtain gladness and joy,

And csorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 “I, even I, am He who acomforts you.

Who are you that you are afraid of bman who dies

And of the son of man who is made clike grass,

13 That you have aforgotten the Lord your Maker,

Who bstretched out the heavens

And laid the foundations of the earth,

That you cfear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,

As he makes ready to destroy?

But where is the fury of the doppressor?

14 “The 1aexile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, bnor will his bread be lacking.

15 “For I am the Lord your God, who astirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).

16 “I have aput My words in your mouth and have bcovered you with the shadow of My hand, to 1cestablish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”

17 aRouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,

You who have bdrunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;

The 1chalice of reeling you have 2drained to the dregs.

18 There is anone to guide her among all the sons she has borne,

Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

19 These two things have befallen you;

Who will mourn for you?

The adevastation and destruction, famine and sword;

How shall I comfort you?

20 Your sons have fainted,

They alie helpless at the head of every street,

Like an bantelope in a net,

Full of the wrath of the Lord,

The crebuke of your God.

21 Therefore, please hear this, you aafflicted,

Who are bdrunk, but not with wine:

22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God

Who acontends for His people,

“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the bcup of reeling,

The 1chalice of My anger;

You will never drink it again.

23 “I will aput it into the hand of your tormentors,

Who have said to 1you, ‘bLie down that we may walk over you.’

You have even made your back like the ground

And like the street for those who walk over it.”